President Obama has called a series of meetings with labor and business leaders where he is expected to lay out the case for shared sacrifices ahead of the fiscal cliff. On Friday, congressional leaders from both parties will head to the White House to begin planning out budget negotiations.

With political pressure mounting, Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist for the Concord Coalition, a think-tank committed to balanced federal fiscal policy, believes politicians won't have much trouble working together to avoid the quickly approaching fiscal cliff.

Instead, Rogers wonders if Congress will be able to hash out a solution that serves longer-term goals.

"The pressure is exactly the opposite of what you need because the short-term worry about recession concerns gets mixed up with the longer-term need to reduce the deficit, raise national savings and kind of get ourselves on a more sustainable path," she says.